Warm People Make Warm Places
by knowelle
Summary: After the war, many choose to redo their final year. What happens when Hermione's cousin is chosen to be the first muggle to attend Hogwarts, and whose lives will she change? Neville x OC, Draco x Astoria
1. Rizzi's Place

**Hello! I've been writing this fan fiction off and on for almost 2 years, and I've decided to publish it. I hope everyone likes it! This fanfic doesn't have much angst in it because I don't have that in me, but hopefully you all will like it! The pairings are Neville x OC (an OC I hold very dear) and Astoria x Draco. At the beginning of each chapter, I am putting the song I listened to while writing it and it will help capture the mood of the chapter. Enjoy! (PS I have no beta, so bear with me here)**

 **"** **Dream a Little Dream of Me" / Mamas & the Papas**

 _"_ Why aren't you cleaning, Nadine? _NADINE!"_

The Italian girl sat down on the toilet lid with a thud, letting out a deep sigh. She heard her mom and at least two of her sisters screaming in the deli downstairs. The floors were so thin that sometimes she marveled at its ability to hold everything up.

She squealed in frustration and jumped up, raising one foot and banging it down over their heads. She yelled over their noise, "Shut your mouths for _two seconds_. This isn't Jersey!"

She banged her elbow on the fake gold towel rack and leaned her head against the pale mint tile that hadn't been updated since Reagan was president. She closed her eyes and breathed in the comforting smell of rosemary and basil that were sitting in tiny pots on the bathroom sill.

She looked out the dusty window to the hustle and bustle of nighttime Brooklyn. Her face was lit up with red and green by the neon sign just out her window, proclaiming "Rizzi's Place" for those who were passing through. _Anyone who knew anyone in Bensonhurst knew exactly where Rizzi's was._

She stroked a warm leaf from her basil plant, exhaling softly as she felt the tiny hairs prick the pad of her finger. Faintly, she swayed to the voices of The Mamas & the Papas playing from the old radio down in the kitchen.

She had gotten a letter from her dear cousin that she would be visiting this summer, and honestly, she could not come fast enough. She had so much to tell, so much to discuss with her. _But then again_ , she thought sadly, _they didn't have much in common anymore._

 _Does Hermione even care about her anymore?_

Nadine remembered the first time her cousin had been exposed to telenovelas. Nadine and her sisters had grown up with them, but coming from Britain, her cousin has watched, transfixed, as the beautiful ladies swept across the screen of their tiny TV.

Nadine hummed as she inhaled the smell of caramelized mangos. Her noni had mailed them from Erice in Sicily, just as they were ripening. Now, their sweet scent permeated the house and soaked the walls in the smell of sunshine.

Hermione had loved coming here in the summers, and Nadine was wistful for those times before she had gone off to her special school and could no longer visit.

She didn't know much about the school except that it, and Hermione, were part of a magical world that Nadine was not a part of. Nadine's parents had accepted this even better than Hermione's own parents, and had even taken Hermione in while her own parents sorted themselves out across the pond.

Hermione had never understood how they had taken it so well, but Nadine found it quite simple; they lived in Brooklyn, where anything could happen. Magic had always been humming all around them.

Suddenly, Nadine heard a distinct peck on the bathroom window. She jumped and almost dropped the washcloth she had been holding.

She could see bright white feathers flurrying out in the humid summer air. She peeked out with a frown. That doesn't look like a pigeon.

She opened the window as quietly as she could, wincing as the rusty runners screamed in protest. Her eyes widened when she saw a giant Great Horned Owl perched impatiently on their neon sign.

He flew towards her and before she could register his closeness, he dropped a scroll onto the sill. He fluttered back to the sign and began to open his big wings, preparing to take off.

She quickly set the letter on the toilet lid before leaning out again with an outstretched hand. "Hey! Wait, pal! Do you want something to eat for coming all this way?"

Nadine saw him pause and took that as a yes. With a laugh, she took off out of the tiny bathroom and shimmied down the thin hallway, covered in paisley wallpaper, and launched down the precarious steps into a downstairs that was built on Italian tradition and jazz.

The walls were orange, the floors were worn maple, and the dining chairs of the restaurant were mismatched. Spaghetti sauce was everywhere and the families cheered warmly as they saw her.

"Nadine! There's my little tamale," Vinnie, a middle aged woman with dyed red hair and a toothy smile, shouted.

"No time, Vin!" Nadine called, sliding through the front of the restaurant and through the kitchen doors. The heat from the restaurant was only amplified here, the ovens bursting with fire, marinara sauce bubbling over in a witch-like cauldron, and the din of seven voices crowding over one another.

Her mom, Rosa, was sliding a monstrous mushroom pizza into the oven while shouting at Nadine's youngest sister, a joyous 4th grader with cropped dark hair and big eyes. She was sitting on the counter, ignoring her mom and snacking on a large carrot.

Nadine barely registered her father burning steaks on their oldest oven and her sisters bickering about how long the pasta had been in the water.

Rosa was a small, short woman with a booming voice and permed hair. She barely came up to Nadine's chin. "Nadine, how's the bathroom going, babe? Please say it's not horrible?" She enunciated the _hah_ in _hah-rrible._

"It's goin' just fine, Ma!" Nadine said, sliding a slice of hot mango on a plate and dashing it with chili powder. _Do owls like spicy food?_ she thought. _I hope so._

She darted back out the kitchen into the restaurant, dodging countless little children and twirling plates from the waitresses, running up the stairs. Her bangs were stuck to her forehead with sweat, but she hoped she hadn't taken too long. She didn't know much about the owls in Hermione's world, but she assumed they were busy creatures.

When she slammed her body into the bathroom, the plate balanced on her palm, she saw the owl in its same position on the neon sign. Breathing a sigh of relief, she stuck the plate out the window in offering. "It should be cool enough, but I didn't know if you liked spicy food so I took a risk, I'm super sor—"

He jumped over and clamped the mango in his talon, before going back to the sign and tossing it up in the air. He caught it and let it slide down his throat, gulping it down in one swallow. She shuddered as she imagined a mouse instead of the mango slice.

He blinked at her once, in what she assumed was a grateful slowness, before soaring off into the damp night. She stuck her head out the window and craned her neck to watch him until he was invisible amongst the glowing signs and the countless housewives standing on their rickety balconies and shaking out faded floral sheets in a futile effort to dry them. Honking horns and shouting men were deafening her.

She closed the window and set the plate down, grabbing the rolled up letter before sliding down to the cool floor in exhaustion. Her faded apron bunched up around her stomach and her bare legs draped themselves unceremoniously over the pink tub.

She slipped off the ribbon and unrolled it, her eyes dancing across the familiar handwriting. She frowned in disappointment as she began to read, then her face ghosted confusion, before excitement lit her eyes.

 _Dear Dina,_

 _How's my favorite cousin doing? (Don't tell your sisters that)_

 _I'll cut to the chase. I can't make it this summer. In fact, I'll be upping you one. It's not really something I can explain over letter, but here's the gist. My school wants to introduce muggle students (that would be you) into the existing magical students (that's me). I know this sounds weird, but trust me, hogwarts need something like this. As you know, there has been a supremacist war going on, and it was horrible, Nadine._

 _The school needs a breath of fresh air. I told the new headmaster, Minerva McGonagall, that you were that fresh air. You will be the first muggle student to attend. It would just be for this school year._

 _I think you could really change things here, and McGonagall trusts me._

 _I know Uncle Sal and Aunt Rosa will be hesitant, but right now, the most dangerous thing in the wizarding world right now is stagnation. We need you to get blood pumping again._

 _If it isn't too soon, we will be 'teleporting' you Monday. School won't start for a bit, but this gives you time to familiarize yourself and get to know everyone. You'll love them!_

 _All my love,_

 _H.G_

 _P.S: Bring all the telenovela tapes you have! I need to catch up!_

Nadine sniffled as she set the letter down. Hermione always teased her ability to cry over the smallest stuff, but this wasn't small. Hermione hadn't forgotten her after all; she thought she was fresh air! _Could you imagine that?_

She wiped her eyes with a laugh and leaned her head back against the tile, closing her eyes and imagining exactly what she should wear.


	2. Leopard Orchid

**"** **Will I Ever Make it Home" / Ingram Hill**

"I have something to tell you all."

Everyone in the Gryffindor common room turned their heads toward Hermione, sitting on one of the small couches next to Ron.

Harry looked up from his book and furrowed his brow. "Yeah?"

The light from the fireplace was casting everyone in a warm glow, and from his spot on the floor, Neville could see a storm was brewing outside the repaired castle. He could have gotten on one of the free couches, but it felt weird to be alone on one. Hermione and Ron snuggled on one, Harry and Ginny on another. The floor was just fine with him.

Neville's herbology books were scattered around him, Harry was reading a book on Hitler (whoever that was) and they were all struggling to return to a sense of normalcy in their final year. On account of the quality of schooling in the last year, they were all offered to go at their seventh year with a fresh start, and they were all grateful. It felt weird, but they were trying.

Ginny leaned over from her spot next to Harry to nudge her brother's girlfriend. "Go on with it, then?"

She wrung her hands. "Well, as you all know, I'm muggle-born."

They all laughed and Harry threw his hands up in mock surprise. "We had no idea!"

Hermione laughed and reached her leg over to kick him playfully. " _and_ McGonagall thought it would be a good idea to allow family members of muggle borns into the school."

Everyone was suddenly silent for a moment, thinking it over. Neville was shocked; the idea of letting muggles into a magical school would have been unheard of not even a couple months ago.

Neville scooted closer. "Why?"

"Well," Hermione started, "she and I actually talked it over together. The idea of magic as an exclusivity is archaic and it's not a good memory for anyone at this point, right? So, she thought if we could begin to integrate certain portions of society who are already somewhat familiar with the concept of the wizarding world, it would be really healthy. It's not like everything we learn here requires or pertains to magic."

Neville laughed in surprise, causing the group to look at him. He blushed. "Well, I think it's a good idea."

Hermione smiled. "I think so too. I wanted to tell you guys because the first student they're going to allow in is going to be someone I'm very close with."

Everyone looked curious. "Really? Who?"

Hermione looked excited now; gone was the nervousness. "My cousin, actually. She's my age, so I grew up with her. She's from America, on my dad's sister's side."

Ginny clapped her hands. "I can't believe we're going to be going to school with a real life muggle! What's her name? Ah, what's she like?"

"Her name is Nadine Petrillo. She's the thing I missed the most when I went to Hogwarts, but I never wanted to mention her." She furrowed her brow. "I don't know why now, I guess I wanted to keep some part of my life special. She's magical, you know?"

Ginny huffed. "I thought you said she was a muggle."

Hermione waved her hands in frustration, nearly hitting Ron on the side of the head. He just ducked calmly and reinstated her place under his arm. "She is, but magical in a different way, you know?"

Hermione got a dreamy look in her eyes and absently played with Ron's hand lying in her lap. "I remember it was always like going to a different world when I would go and spend the summers with her family. It was such a tiny apartment but it was like a bottomless bag; there were so many people in that apartment!"

Hermione laughed at the memory, snuggling next to Ron further. "There were two elder sisters and two younger: Frida, Lauretta, Nadine, Perdita, and Roz. I remember summers in Brooklyn were the best years of my life. Uncle Sal and Aunt Rosa would give us five dollars and Nadine would take me all around the boroughs, and we would see how much food we could possibly buy on five dollars. Nadine knew all the best taco trucks, but the best were the bakeries. She knew all the bakeries and . . ."

Hermione went on with some of her adventures with Nadine, and they all lost track of time.

Neville had been listening quietly to all the stories, particularly liking the one where Nadine stole a plant from one of the pizza places in some place called the 'Bronx' because they weren't taking good care of it.

He asked, "When does she arrive?"

Hermione paused. "Actually, that's what I wanted to mention. She's coming tonight."

"What?" Ginny cried, falling back into the couch cushion. "When?"

"I don't know exactly. McGonagall said it would better to just apparate her in rather than have her come all the way from New York to Scotland, so she should be here any minute. I didn't want to freak you all out and tell you sooner, but I see now that that was not the brightest idea."

Ron laughed. "You? Not be brilliant? Impossible."

Hermione giggled and kissed him softly. "Clever."

Neville felt excited. It had been a while since he'd met a muggle on account of the policing done by death eaters, and though he didn't like to admit it, his pureblood upbringing meant he just didn't see them in general.

As everyone else got back to their work, determined to wait until Nadine got here, Neville began to muse about the new girl and what she would be like.

He worried the hem of his sweater, pulling his long legs up and resting his chin on his knees as he watched the fire flicker in its coals. Everyone else softly chatted in the background, and he tried to join in once or twice, but as usual, his soft voice got lost in translation.

He had just started to doze off when he felt a crackling in his ear and his head jerked up, along with the others. In the middle of the common room, there was a flash of light, and as quickly as the light had come, it vanished. In its place, however, was a girl.

A very unusual girl.

She was standing there, wide eyed. Neville scrambled to his feet and shoved his hands in his pockets while the others rose from the couches.

He saw her in bits before he saw the whole. Frizzy masses of curls, piled into a mad bun. Strong everything: brows, nose, shoulders, eyes. Leopard print leggings with a red sweater dress, curvy hips that led to long legs that led to red heels. Bright warm red lipstick that paired perfectly to the warmth of her dark green eyes. Hoop earrings flashing at him.

Hermione was the first to react, squealing with delight and running to launch herself into her cousin's arms. "DINA!"

Nadine screamed with equal fervor, wrapping her arms tightly around the smaller English girl and swinging her around. They danced around amongst all of the Brooklyn muggle's baggage, which were all either glittery or leopard print. Neville almost got dizzy with all the pattern overload.

Nadine set Hermione down, laughing loudly. She put her hands on her hips and let out a deep breath. "That was the worst five second trip I have literally ever taken."

Her accent was strange and very Brooklyn, but Neville felt himself biting his lip at her voice. He shifted on his feet.

Nadine waved to everyone, stepping carefully around her wall of luggage. "Hey-o, everyone! I'm Nadine Petrillo, Hermoine's cousin, and yes, very American."

She fidgeted with the hem of her sweater, and it was the only indication that she was anxious.

Everyone introduced themselves, and she shook everyone's hand. She got to Neville, and she smiled up at him. He saw her eyes widen slightly, and he looked away. He was gawky compared to his friends, but he didn't think he was that bad until that moment. She suddenly smiled brightly and grabbed his hand, shaking it firmly and slowly. He smelled fresh lemons and basil coming from her, and he was reminded of the greenhouses he spent so much time in.

He felt the pleasant sensation of her long red nails brushing down his hand as she pulled hers away.

She backed up slowly to rejoin her cousin, her gaze, curiously, lingering on Neville, before she turned to the others. "So yes, I'm a…." she paused, "muggle? Is that what I'm called?"

Hermione nodded, and she continued. "Yeah, whatever that is." she stopped again and looked around the room. "Can we sit down? I didn't walk all the way here from Bensonhurst but I sure as hell feel like it, you feel me?"

The others sat down where they used to and Neville, feeling like he should sit on a couch rather than on the floor while there was a guest, sat on a loveseat across from Ron and Hermione. He expected Nadine to take the chair closest to Hermione, but to his complete shock, she walked over and settled in next to him.

He felt her leaning along his side and he looked over and down at her. She blinked up at him with a glimmer in her eye. She looked back out to the others, but he couldn't bring himself to look away from her. They must have looked a pair, her talking away with her big hair and leopard tights and him, a lanky giant in an oversized sweater with his fingers nervously tapping the chair arm.

". . . See, I would have just matched my schedule with Hermione's, but I'm a botany wiz, not to blow smoke or anything. Plus, you know, no magic. I was so excited to see Hogwarts had this many plant-based classes!"

Neville laughed in surprise and nudged her, forgetting his nervousness for a second. "You like herbology?"

She looked up at him with a bright smile. "Of course I do! You should see the apartment! My room is more plant than anything else, and the balcony has barely any room to sit out on it anymore. My favorite flower is the leopard orchid. I have it absolutely everywhere."

"I have the same problem with my dorm. My roommates hated me for it, so I moved most of them out to the greenhouse to be with the other magical plants."

She gasped. " _Magical plants?_ What's so magical?"

As Neville and Nadine talked, the others looked on in amusement. They were talking about their plants and gardening techniques so easily, Nadine with big sweeping hand gestures and Neville with small head nods and soft smiles.

Hermione looked at Ron with raised brows. One thing Hermione knew immediately as she watched her cousin gesture wildly about proper watering timing, her knees turned toward her companion on the couch: her cousin had a crush on Neville Longbottom.

—

Later that night, after Seamus had passed out in a heap on his side of the room, Neville brought out a tiny pot. He'd been puzzling over what to put into the pot for a while, something to remind him of the greenhouse when he was unable to be there.

He didn't want to exactly admit this to himself, but now he wanted a reminder of something else too.

Chewing his lip, he softly touched his wand to the dark soil in the pot before he changed his mind. When he removed the wand, a little leopard orchid sprout was left behind.


	3. Lucky Scrunchy

**"** **I Want You to Want Me" / Cheap Trick**

"Spill it."

Nadine jerked her head up from where she had been peeking under her bed, wiping sweat off her brow. "Spill what?"

Hermione was curled up on her side of the dorm, calmly reading a book and ignoring the chaos Nadine was slowly creating around them. They had only bunked together less than a month so far, but their room was slowly beginning to look like an 80's New York pipe dream. 100% Nadine. Paisley drapes, scrunchies hiding in every nook and cranny, and leopard print pillows, all permeated with the smell of Herbal Essences and Tom Ford's Black Orchid.

Speaking of orchids. . .

Hermione casually flicked a sweatband at her cousin, and she caught it gratefully. Slipping it on, Nadine dived back under the bed to hunt for her lucky scrunchy.

Clearing her throat, Hermione leaned down over the side. "How is herbology with Neville?"

Nadine shuffled beneath the bed. "Fine. I think." Her voice was muffled. Hermione noticed that she didn't even bother to feign ignorance; _'Neville? Oh, you mean that tall bloke with the ratty sweaters?'_

"What do you mean, you think?"

"Well, on the first day of class, I made to sit by him, but he shuffled over and sat in the one desk that was only big enough for one person. And then yesterday, he did the _same fucking thing."_

Hermione closed her book with a grin and slid off the bed to look under Nadine's. She found her cousin moving piles of glittery clothes around, hunting furiously.

Hermione reached into the pile and pulled out a faded orange scrunchy with red polka dots on it. Nadine gasped out a thanks and slipped it on her wrist. Though they had found the missing hair tie, they stayed huddled under the bed. When they were younger, they would do this to give them some privacy at Nadine's family's apartment.

Hermione smiled softly at the flushed face across from her. "I said spill it."

"And I said 'Spill what?'"

Hermione reached out and snapped the scrunchy on Nadine's wrist. "You know exactly what I want you to spill. You have a crush on someone and I know who it is and I haven't been able to just focus on stuff like this since we were 11 without death looming over this entire school, so give me this?"

Nadine sniffled and snuggled closer under the bed. "Well of course I have a crush and of course it's on Neville. I feel like it's obvious."

Hermione frowned. "You know it's obvious?"

"Of course I do, I make it obvious. But the only one who isn't picking up on it is the one I want to."

Hermione tapped her cousin's arm to signal her legs were falling asleep, and they both crawled out from under the bed. She crawled back up onto her bed while Nadine flopped dramatically onto the floor. Her wild hair swallowed her face up like a dark bed of flowers.

"Is this why you needed your lucky scrunchy?"

Nadine nodded emphatically. "Definitely. I needed extra luck. I just want to be friends with him at the very least."

Hermione chewed her lip and looked down at the book she'd picked back up. The cover had no words but she pretended to read it anyway. She felt a flush of embarrassment at the first question that had popped up in her head.

Nadine scampered up next to her and wrapped her arms around Hermione roughly, leaning over her to look at the book. "I don't think even wizards can read words that aren't there, so what's up?"

Hermione paused, then decided it would be best to just ask outright. "Why?"

Nadine pulled pack. "Why what?"

"Why Neville?"

Nadine absently twirled a curl around her face and furrowed her brow with a confused smile. "Why not Neville? He's a Total Package."

Hermione smiled back with mirrored confusion. This is like when she tried to talk to Uncle Sal's mother, who only spoke in Italian proverbs. Nadine's noni and Hermione didn't understand each other, but that didn't stop them from trying to figure out what each other was saying.

"What do you mean he's a total package?"

Nadine waved her hands, frowning. "No no no no, he's a **Total Package**. Like, when Frida first met Brittany, she said everything that came out of Brittany's mouth was like magic. It was like two puzzle pieces fitting together. Speaking of Frida and Britanny, did I tell you they're engaged?"

"I still don't know what you mea—ENGAGED?" Hermione grabbed Nadine's shoulders. "Your sister is getting married?"

Nadine wagged her finger. "You know I was right not to tell you until this mysterious war you keep telling me I'm not ready to hear about had ended. Then it slipped my mind. Frida proposed to her in the restaurant, it was like something out of a Nia Vardalos movie, she had put the ring inside a can of San Pellegrino—"

Hermione stopped her. "You can tell me later, I'll want details. But for now, what's the definition of a Total Package?"

Nadine bit her lip thoughtfully and her eyes glazed over, stalking the right words in the woods of her mind. After a minute, she grinned. "It's when you meet someone that might be your soulmate, but you don't know them obviously, so you don't want to jump to conclusions before you've even met them. Like, you smell a greenhouse on them, and you like plants too, and he looks so adorable standing there in that sweater, taller than everyone else but trying to make himself the smallest. So you just think to yourself, "I cannot possibly know if he's _the_ Soulmate, but he's definitely a Total Package. He looks nice and he's fine."

Hermione leaned her shoulder against the warm stone of their room walls and giggled. Nadine looked at her curiously. "Nadine, that may have just been the nicest thing anything has ever said about Neville. Watch yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you're used to men being like emotionally stable rocks, hairy Italian rocks that have been raised in very open, rambunctious households. And Neville's like a overgrown, delicate houseplant that's never had a girlfriend"

Nadine picked fluff off her worn sweatpants. "First of all, I love big houseplants. Second, I don't possibly see how he hasn't had a girlfriend."

"You don't?"

"Well," Nadine paused, clucking her tongue and muttering under her breath in Italian. Probably a proverb. "Not really. He's a Total Package. When I shook hands with him that first time, his hands were calloused, gardener's hands, and he was so tall I had to look up. I love looking up at things. It was like being a kid and going to Times Square all over again, but like with people."

"Not that I understand that comparison, because I don't, but I think Neville thinks you're a Total Package too."

Nadine visibly perked up, her eyes widening. "Really? Did he say anything? This should be easy. Shouldn't this be easy?"

Hermione shrugged. "He's got issues, Dina. He was picked on a lot as a kid, and he was orphaned at a young age. Plus, you know, the war."

Nadine had went very still when Hermione mentioned Neville being an orphan. Hermione looked at her, only to see her green eyes brimming with tears. "His parents passed away? Was it because of _the war_?"

Hermione nodded slowly. "They were tortured. He's gotten over it, so you should too. Don't treat him differently, try being an emotional wall for once."

Nadine huffed and fell back onto the bed dramatically. "I am not an emotional wall. I am an emotional beaded curtain, you have to accept me."

"You belong as the lead of a telenovela, Nadine. A melodramatic star dressed in red."

"What did it feel like when you met Ron?" Nadine sat up.

Hermione was confused momentarily by the sudden change of topic. "Ron and I weren't Total Packages, but we're Soulmates, I think. If I follow your terminology. We skipped the crush part, and then bam, after years, it just hit us like a freight train."

"That is the sweetest thing I've heard since Rosa and Ricardo finally got together in _Rosa Salvaje,_ " Nadine gushed, reaching underneath the bed to pull out a box of cookies she'd brought with her.

Hermione wanted to almost laugh in delight at the image they painted. Who would have thought she'd not only survive the Wizarding War, but that she'd be dating Ron and going to school with her favorite American. Sitting in their room. Talking about relationships and telenovelas.

Hermione watched Nadine as she fumbled with opening the cookie box. Nadine had lived her entire life in a Corinne Bailey Rae song, and it was unbelievably soothing. She had never had to kill anyone or duel against her old friends because they chose to become Death Eaters.

She's a breath of fresh air to a darkened school.

"I think he's just intimidated by you, Nadine. Neville, I mean. You should sit closer and closer to him until he subconsciously gets comfortable with you."

Nadine chewed thoughtfully.

"Well, that really isn't my style."


	4. Sit With Me

**"** **Never Forget You" / The Noisettes**

"Sit with me"

Neville jumped at the throaty voice he recognized immediately. He didn't have to catch the scent of basil and lemons and orchid perfume to know exactly who it was.

He had been beyond shocked to see Nadine in his advanced herbology class the first day. There she'd been, in an off-the-shoulder white sweatshirt with beetles printed on it. Her hair was swept up loosely by chopsticks and probably magic, exposing her tan neck. He had wanted to kiss the dark moles dotting up to her hairline.

He had wanted more than anything to claim the tantalizingly empty seat next to her, but he was all too aware of several other boys moving to claim it. He could easily get there first, but there wasn't much of a point. He was Neville.

So he'd coughed and went to the table covered with overflowing plants on one side, leaving no room for a second person. He turned to wave at her, to let her know he was available to be friends, but he had caught her scowling at him with her full lips.

He didn't understand why she had been mad, but he'd felt horrible about it. Considering Nadine had automatically been sorted into Gryffindor, they should have been seeing a lot of each other in the common rooms and at lunch. However, Hermione and Ginny always has spirited her away, and Neville had always been the one you turned to when you had no other options.

After class, he had tried to catch her outside but she had disappeared.

Now, on their third day of class, here she was, looking down at him with her painful-looking hoop earrings brushing against her cheeks. She was wearing the same type of sweatshirt but in leopard print; he remembered her look of relief when Hermione told her they had decided to do away with uniforms this year. She liked these sweatshirts apparently, and they exposed one of her shoulders to display her brightly colored bra straps.

"W-What?" Neville stammered, immediately getting up so she didn't have to crane her head down. Of course, now, she had to crane her head up, which was almost worse.

"I was saying that I wished you would have sat with me the first day rather than at this half table. I don't know anyone, and it would have been nice to sit with you. Neville."

He shuffled awkwardly and accidentally bumped over a tall Thrashing Fern. Nadine quickly reached out and caught it at the same time he did, their hands colliding on the terra cotta pot. He stammered and quickly withdrew his hand, trying to convince himself that her quickly squeezing his hand must have been a fluke.

"I thought you would have liked to make new friends," he mumbled, but with his blasted loud voice, it just came out pitchy and brash.

But Nadine smiled nonetheless, instantly looking . . . _relieved?_ "Oh, I had thought you didn't want to be friends, ya feel?"

He shook his head emphatically, waving his hands in the negative. He suddenly realized how his actions might have appeared that way, so he made a mental note to smack himself later. "No, I'd love to sit by you! But what about your partner?"

Nadine turned around to look at Marcus Treeshire, a boy with slicked back blue hair and sharp cheekbones. He was over in the corner, debating with a girl in Doc Martens about the importance of fertilizer. "There isn't a seating chart yet, is there? He's really nice, but I'd prefer to be partnered with you, is that alright?"

Neville shook his head, and watched Nadine's expression fall for a second before he realized he'd answered the wrong question. "No no, I meant there wasn't a seating chart. I'd love to pair up with you."

He internally winced at his wording, but Nadine didn't seem to notice. She saluted him with a silly grin and made her way back over to her table. He grabbed his bag and sat down next to her, saying 'sorry' and 'excuse me' to no one in particular.

—

Nadine smiled as she watched him apologize his way over to their table, hunching his back slightly so as not to hit the hanging plants.

She found it baffling, the way he acted. The rest of the student body obviously respected him for whatever he'd done during _the war_ , but Neville acted like he'd been a water boy.

Not that she had anything against water boys. They played a crucial part in sports, in her opinion.

She tried to hide her smile as she felt Neville settle into the chair next to her. She could feel the warmth from his striped pullover as he momentarily brushed against her, struggling to get his book bag to fit underneath his chair. She drew the plant she'd been working with to the center of the table, a plain little peace lily.

She had seen it off in the back, pushed there because it wasn't magical. The magical plants seemed to be almost bullying it, stealing its water like a thug might take a small kid's lunch money.

She'd felt a kindred soul in this little drooping flower, so she'd been trying to rehabilitate it. Neville fell into perfect sync with her as they studied and worked, though Nadine had a tough time keeping focus with him so close.

—

Neville was trying not to fidget whenever her breath ghosted over his fingers as they looked over a leaf. He hoped he didn't seem too nervous.

—

Neville brushed his fingers against the petals of all the blooms, studying it closely. "I've never seen this type of plant before."

Nadine looked up from her magnifying glass to look over at him incredulously. "How? Because it isn't magical? We live in the same universe, you know."

Neville shrugged. "We only have magical houseplants, usually. What is it called?"

"A peace lily," Nadine said. "My mom loves them because she thinks they'll make her kids calm down, but so far that hasn't really worked."

She caught a quiet laugh from Neville, and glowed with pleasure. She liked his laugh more than she had liked anyone's laugh before. Prior to him, she didn't even think laughs could be attractive. Sensual, seductive, jovial, yes. But never inherently attractive. His laugh was like the moment when you throw more logs onto a roaring fire.

She would hear him laughing with Harry or Hermione's boyfriend, but she wanted to hear his laugh directed at her more. As a matter of fact, she'd prefer him constantly laughing and happy.

With that thought, she turned to him once class was over and everyone was packing up. "Would you like to go to the pub place this Saturday with Hermione and Ron and I?"

Neville froze. Because one, he never really got invited out. Second, it sounded almost like a double date. He quickly squelched that idea before he let himself fully develop the thought.

"Oh, uh, sure, Nadine," he replied quietly, flitting his eyes anywhere but into her own. He still managed to catch her smile before he felt her warm hand on his arm and her figure leaning toward him.

"Call me Dina."


End file.
